Category: May ’18

*GAZE exploratory project will aim to connect the audience over the ability to experience the wonder of the night sky, documenting it, and sharing the different perceptions we all have about the night sky.

Documenting the ongoing social history of stars, *GAZERs is open to all levels of astronomers and star gazers. The *GAZERs Archive accepts documentation of all zenith* views, the view when you look directly up at the sky. Imagined and observed collections of stars alike are all accepted into this growing archive.

Documenting the ongoing social history of stars, *GAZERs collects facts, fiction and the ideas that float in between. Through collection, creation and preservation of the history of stars, the archive protects and promotes the human desire to gaze up at the stars and wonder “what could be up there?”.

*Zenith: “The zenith is an imaginary point directly “above” a particular location, on the imaginary celestial sphere. “Above” means in the vertical direction opposite to the apparent gravitational force at that location.”

Reflection:

I think this body of work can be broken up into three components. The wall works could be a series in and of themselves, while the archive, performance/participatory project and website function together as another thematic project. Thought they all are dealing with similar subject matter and materiality, the breath of themes and issues these works are trying to tackle is getting a bit out of hand.

I am completely fine with this, and this it is an important way of working to recognize. Especially within the context of this Exploratory Project, I was trying to figure out how I could use this new (to me) material of carbon paper and performance within the thematic scope of my pre-existing practice. I have broken up the work into two categories within the project, the light boxes which are more passive, and the performative elements such as the video, participatory project and website.

Part 1: Light Boxes

By layering paper strategically to limit how much pressure I apply to the back of the carbon paper using pencils and other tools like a sewing needle, Japanese punch, and pattern tracing tool, I can get different marks. It also results in a positive of my negative drawings being produced. By layering different projects I find these are becoming interesting drawings in themselves, showing the process, while the carbon paper shows it too but also the materiality.

Part 2: Performance and Participatory Project

On Friday May 4th the gallery had a small reception, and I invited attendees to submit to the archive. I am still waiting to get the documentation back, but I recieved a good number of submissions, from children and adults alike. Many of the drawings were of imagined stars and skies. The fantastical observations turned out beautiful in the carbon paper, which I will turn into slides and then add to the archive. The notes section of the form also turned out to be delightfully playful, and some notes ranges from just “M” from a 4 year old, to poems from adults.

I have had an embosser fabricated to stamp carbon copies for the collection, and am making small tags and labels for the objects I am making as part of the installation. A half to 3/4 pressure crimp seems to be ideal for read ability.

I think this tool adds an element of authenticity to the archive materials. Even though it is completely fabricated by me, it adds a sense of importance to all the submissions, and is a bit playful in the way it enacts the ritual of officiating or archiving to all objects.

I have been trying to work with Google Maps API to develop an interactive map that allows one of my drawing to be tiled endlessly and for users to be able to pick a star and tag it with a name or any other textual information they may want, but I am having trouble figuring out the coding on my own. I have enlisted the assistance of my partner Jacob to help me in figuring out where the code needs to go, but this will be an ongoing project. http://map.stargazearchive.xyz/

In the meantime I have bought a domain, worked out format of the website archive and have made a submission page and about description: https://www.stargazearchive.xyz/

The last weekend was a long one in Canada, and really one of the first spring feeling ones of the season. The urge to spend a bit of sun was just too strong for me to spend it in the studio.

Visiting the ocean and Fundy National park provided lots of time for quiet contemplation while walking and hiking. I thought about the MA has been going over all, what I feel I have gotten out of it, and how to tighten the resolve of the exploratory project.

I feel I may have stretched myself a bit too thin, and am wondering if the project I have been working on is not really a number of smaller projects, that I am trying to squish together conceptually.

I think this body of work can be broken up into three components. The wall works could be a series in and of themselves, the archive,

performance/participatory project and website function together, and the other carbon paper drawings that get used as site installations in windows is another thematic project. Thought they all are deing with similar subject matter and materiality, the breath of themes and issues these works are trying to tackle is getting a bit out of hand.

I am completely fine with this, and this it is an important way of working to recognize. Especially within the context of this Exloratory Project, I was trying to figure out how I could use this new (to me) material of carbon paper and performance within the themaic scope of my pre-existing practice.

Latin American artist Vija Celmins started producing depictions of the night sky in the 1970’s. The images have restricted rectangular boarders but present a limitless recess into the background. Her Starfeild works often employ the process of creating black field with charcoal and then using an eraser to create each star (*citation Tate). Created through replication rather can actual observation of a night sky, Celmins plays with notions of distance and perceived proximity. Creating a personal connection to the imagery Celmins would ‘scrutinize these little images in great detail. Their small size allowed for an intimacy with the subject. It allowed me to enter that grey world in a personal way and I would draw my way out of it’ (Close, 51). The intimate scale of the works and the importance of the surface of the drawing techniques draws a viewer in, questioning what is physical and what is absence in the expanse of the cosmos.

Clemins’ star field works, and her larger practice raises questions of scale and cause the viewer to question whether they are looking at something incomprehensibly large, something small, that they could hold in their hand, or something viewed through a microscope. All reference the natural world and draw upon the similarities of patterns found in the natural world.

From these different scales, the macro and the micro, references to human scale are made through the ability to see the hand of the artist through these works. The surface shows every trace of Celmin’s actions.

I have been a bit quiet on the journal lately as I have been trying to use my extra time to touch up the PPP, finish the contextual study to the best state that my time will allow, and spend some dedicated time in the studio away from the computer, so here is a bit of a catch up on the last two weeks.

I have just finished making up the lightboxes for the exploratory project, as well as 110 small 2”x2” hand draw slides. These works have been installed at Struts Gallery, which lends space to its membership for projects every spring and summer. In the space I have been experimenting with the installation, and was happiest with this final orientation, but I will also be trying a new arrangement next week while I have space.

I chose to work in a small space, where I could control the lighting, and keep the works tight to reference the salon cannon which this project openly goes against. As all submissions are welcome and will be show for equal amount of time in the rotating slide projector, this is as egalitarian as I can get in the limited gallery space.

Own Work, Installation view of wall pieces, carbon paper, card, led ligths and shadow boxes, dimensions variable, but wall is 86″ long

Mimicking some sort of museological display, I had a table in front of these works to lay out addition light boxes, the slide projector and a light table on which participants could pull slides form the archive and look at as many as they wanted.

On Friday May 4th the gallery had a small reception, and I invited attendees to submit to the archive. I am still waiting to get the documentation back, but I recieved a good number of submissions, from children and adults alike. Many of the drawings were of imagined stars and skies. The fantastical observations turned out beautiful in the carbon paper, which I will turn into slides and then add to the archive. The notes section of the form also turned out to be delightfully playful, and some notes ranges from just “M” from a 4 year old, to poems from adults.

Millie working on her submission to *GAZE

I am really please with the submissions, but think I could take on a more active performative role. I did not have time to finish the costume I was planning for this trial run, but I think it can be done, and if I change the installation to leave space for me to work on one side of the table, the dynamic of the archive could be more lively.

All in all, still lots of work to be done including website and work with the new submissions, but I will do a discreet performance and film that to convey my intentions.